The Unconverted “Believer” (11): The Parable of the Sower (1)

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Acts 15, you know we were saying that hymn a little earlier,

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God moves in a mysterious way, and I happen to notice it was William Cooper who wrote that hymn, you know, based on the text,

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I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. Well if anyone could speak from personal experience it would be

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William Cooper. He was plagued by the deep, deep depression just about all his adult life, great depths, and yet here he speaks of a faith that the

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Lord would deliver him and turn the darkness into light. In fact it was his pastor that really met with him almost daily for hours, for about 20 years, and his pastor was

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John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, but William Cooper, he had quite a difficult struggle all his life, but the

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Lord sustained him and it was really out of his depth of difficulty and experience he gave us a great many wonderful Christian hymns of God's comfort.

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All right, Acts 15. Dave, thank you. If you'd like to turn with me please to Acts 15.

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But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

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And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,

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Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the

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Apostles and the elders about the question. So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both

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Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of all the

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Gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the

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Apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the

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Pharisees rose up and said, it is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.

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The Apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider the matter, and after there had been much debate,

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Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days

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God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

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And God who knows the heart bore witness to them by giving them the

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Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

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Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

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But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

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And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders

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God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking,

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James replied, Brothers, listen to me. Simon has related how

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God first visited the Gentiles to take them from a people for his name, and with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

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After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.

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I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the

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Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the

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Lord, who makes these things known from all of old.

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Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn from God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and for what has been strangled, and from blood.

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For from ancient generations, Moses had in every city those who proclaimed him, for he is read every

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Sabbath in the synagogue. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men among them, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

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They sent Judas, called Brasavus, and Silas, leading men among the brothers with the following letter.

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The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers, who are of the

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Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, Greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and would trouble you with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved

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Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. We therefore sent

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Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

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For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements, that you should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood, and for what has been strangled from sexual immorality.

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If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.

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And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

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And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

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Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the

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Lord with many others also. And after some days,

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Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we have proclaimed the word of the

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Lord and see how they are. How Barnabas wanted to take that with them

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John and called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the word.

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And there arose a sharp disagreement so that they separated from each other.

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Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose

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Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the

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Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

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Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we are grateful to have before us your very words.

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They've been preserved down over many years, and we have them today.

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So we thank you, Lord, for that. We're thankful that your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light along the way, and what a blessing that is,

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Lord. For many of us walked in darkness for a long time before we came to Christ, and it's because of your word, proclaimed and read and prayed on, that we now belong to you.

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We belong to the family of God, and so we've gathered today, Lord, as your family to thank you, and to praise you, and bless you for your many, many ways of kindness to us.

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All praise to you, our Lord. Amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles, please, to Matthew chapter 13. When we began this series some time ago, we stated then that I hope that we really say nothing new that you haven't heard.

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I hope that you've been well enough taught and read in these matters that I'm just confirming to you what you already know and believe, but hopefully these things will be reinforced to us.

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And so here in Matthew 13, we'll consider this very familiar parable to most of us probably, and it's the parable of the sower.

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And I expect that we're going to be here in this parable of the sower for several weeks, and so it's a longer portion.

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This is Matthew chapter 13, 1 through 23. On the same day,

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Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea, and great multitudes were gathered together to him, so that he got into a boat and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

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And then he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.

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Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.

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But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.

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And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

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He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said to him,

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Why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them,

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Because it's been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it has not been given, for whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance.

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But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

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Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, and in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,

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Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand. Seeing you will see and not perceive, for the hearts of this people have grown dull.

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Their ears are hard of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts in turn, so that I should heal them.

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But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.

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For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

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Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

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This is he who receives seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed in stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

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Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

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Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

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But he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

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Now there are two reasons actually I like us to consider this passage, and the first reason is that this parable underscores our assertion that there may be many who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ as their personal

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Savior, but are actually still in their sins, for they've never been truly converted.

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Again our whole series, The Unconverted Believer, assumes this fact, and I think this parable underscores that because of the four seeds that are mentioned in this parable, three represent believers, but only one of these three, the good soil, represents the believer with true saving faith.

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And so two out of the four kinds of soil that our Lord described represent unconverted believers.

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They had faith, but they did not have saving faith. The second reason for addressing this passage is that it underscores what we asserted last time, that the gospel of salvation of the

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Bible is frequently, and even primarily, set forth to be the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the good news of the kingdom.

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All of the parables of Matthew 13 support this assertion. The gospel is the good news that Jesus is both

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Lord and Savior, with all that is implied and involved in that truth.

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Those who claim to have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, but who do not live with Jesus Christ as their

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Lord, are still in their sins. Hence the problem of the unconverted believer.

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And so the parable of the sower is the first and the longest, actually the most detailed, of seven parables found here in this discourse.

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This is set forth in two parts. In the first, Jesus told the parable in public to the gathered crowds, and then secondly,

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Jesus explained the parable privately to his disciples. And between the initial telling forth of the parable, verses 1 through 9, and the explanation of the parable, verses 18 to 23, there's a word of Jesus regarding the purpose of parables in general and why he taught them, and that's in verses 10 through 17.

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And so here we have the three divisions of this section. We'll address two of them today, and the explanation of the parable,

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Lord willing, next week. And so let's first consider the fact that Jesus told the parable before the crowds in public, verses 1 through 9.

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Again notice the lack of detail, but just giving forth the parable. That same day

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Jesus went out of the house, sat beside the sea, great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down.

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The whole crowd stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables, saying, a sower went out to sow.

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And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil.

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But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.

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Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. And other seeds fell on good soil, and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixteen, some thirty.

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He who has ears, let him hear. Now of course this parable taught by our

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Lord on this occasion is commonly known to us in our language as the parable of the sower. So much so, it'll never become associated with a name that's really more conducive to its subject matter, like the parable of the four soils, or even the four kinds of ground, which by the way is how this parable is known commonly in the

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German language. This would be the more correct title in that it points to the major subject of the parable, and really the central idea.

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But of course to change the name of the parable would probably result in more confusion than clarity. Now at this stage of our

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Lord's ministry in Galilee, he was gathering great crowds. They desired to be near him, they wanted to see miracles performed by him, and of course they wanted to hear the words he taught.

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He seemed to speak differently than the religious leaders they were accustomed to hearing in their synagogues.

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One once expressed it, a certain divine authority, strangely combined with the tenderest human sympathy, marked his discourses sharply off as entirely different in kind from all that they had been accustomed to hear in the synagogue.

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The manner and the content of his teaching was very pleasing and appealing to the people, for the common people heard him gladly, as Mark records.

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Of course not all who heard him heard him gladly. His own family, at least on one occasion, thought he was deranged beside himself.

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They did not believe on him until after the resurrection. And of course everywhere he gathered a crowd and taught the

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Jewish leaders, both religious and political leaders, they certainly did not hear him gladly, but heard him with suspicion, with animosity, and with evil designs.

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It's a sad thing when people listen to the scriptures, the Word of God, taught and proclaimed with that kind of attitude.

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They'll not receive anything from the Lord. On this occasion Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

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Now possibly he was desiring to get a way to rest, but it may be he just intended to go to an open space where he could better preach to speak to the people.

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Great crowds gathered, he found it expedient to get into a boat cast off from the shore, which would enable him of course to speak to the large assembly.

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And so he would instruct the people on the nature and the difficulties of being one of his true disciples.

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That was the content of this parable, one who had received salvation through faith in him.

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Now maybe as he sat there the people gathered on the shore, there was within sight a plowed field on the hillside above the shoreline.

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Maybe there was a farmer sowing a seed, who knows, doesn't say that. Nevertheless it would have been an image that was commonly seen by these people and understood.

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The sower having a bag of seed hanging from his shoulder would walk down a furrow with measured steps.

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He'd reach into his bag with his hand, cast a seed in front of him as he walked the length of his field. And when he came to a portion of the field near a pathway or perhaps a area corner of the field where weeds grew, he would not change his cadence or motion lest the seed not be spread evenly in all the good soil near the byways.

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And so the seed that fell on the hard ground was either eaten by birds or trodden by those walking on the path, a scenario that Luke expressed in the parallel account.

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Some of the seed fell in soil by the path in which there were weeds growing and of course that would not bear fruit either.

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And then of course some seed fell in some stony areas or maybe where a rocky ledge was just under the surface and so that seed would also prove to be unfruitful.

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But good seed would be scattered into good prepared ground which the farmer knew would one day bear fruit due to his labor.

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I might just interject this at this time, it's amazing to me how some attempt to present three out of these four soils as representing true

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Christians. This is not a proper understanding of course.

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The Lord says the true Christian is shown forth in the fruit of the life he produces and only the seed sown in good soil produces the fruitfulness of the ground, yields of a hundred fold sixty and some thirty.

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And so apparently after our Lord told this parable he didn't explain the meaning of the parable to the crowd, it wouldn't seem so.

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Or at least so that he was easily and widely understood by them and so rather than this parable rendering his teaching illustrative and informative and applicable to the crowds, it seems like he left the crowds rather ignorant and rather confused.

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Now would you have done if you didn't hear the explanation as later in the passage and try and interpret this parable of the sower according to the information you had?

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Well the disciples must have sensed the response and reaction of the people which led them to the question of Jesus when they were alone.

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And of course that question was basically, Jesus why are you teaching them in parables?

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And this is what we have in verses 10 through 16. When our

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Lord first told his disciples the parable of the sower it prompted their questioning. Disciples came said to him, why do you speak to them in parables?

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He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

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God is sovereign to whom he reveals biblical truth.

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Whoever has to him more will be given and he will have an abundance but whoever does not have even what he has will be taken away from him and therefore

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I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see, hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

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It would seem the disciples themselves had difficulty understanding the meaning of the details of Jesus's parables and if they did not understand who were with him daily and heard him teach frequently what must be the confusion of the crowds who heard

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Jesus teach them? Jesus responded to his disciples by saying that his purpose for teaching in parables was twofold, first to disclose truth to his disciples but secondly to disguise that truth from the

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Jewish crowds. He wasn't trying to save everybody was he? He desired that his disciples understood the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but he did not desire everyone to understand these spiritual realities.

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God is sovereign in his dispensing of salvation. Now Matthew records that Jesus used the term kingdom of heaven, a very important term that we must understand.

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So what is the meaning of the phrase kingdom of heaven? It's commonly acknowledged that Matthew organized his gospel around five recorded discourses or five speeches of the

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Lord Jesus and Matthew 13 contains the third of these five discourses.

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The speech itself contains seven parables each addressing different aspects of the kingdom of heaven.

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The word kingdom appears 12 times in Matthew 13 and of these 12 times the word kingdom is used eight times in the phrase kingdom of heaven.

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Matthew used this phrase the kingdom of heaven rather than the common expression kingdom of God which is found in the parallel passages in the

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Gospels of Mark and Luke. Matthew was writing directly to Jewish readers who avoided writing and saying directly the name

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God due to reverence for him and so in its place they would commonly refer to heaven as the abode of God rather than identifying or saying the name of God directly.

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So the phrases in the Gospels, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are identical in their meaning and this is contrary to what a lot of our dispensational friends teach that they are actually different.

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The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. Well through these seven parables regarding the kingdom of heaven our

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Lord instructed his disciples in the true nature of the kingdom of God which is the realm of salvation of sin unto everlasting life.

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The kingdom of God is the realm of salvation. Now all the people of Israel who listened to Jesus were anticipating the arrival of the promised

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Messiah and his reestablishment of the kingdom of David. In other words the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.

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The ancient kingdom of David was the manifestation of the kingdom of God in the Old Testament.

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The kingdom of Israel was to be the place in which God's people were to live according to God's laws in a relationship with God as their king and the

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Israelites were his people, his citizens of his kingdom. God was the true king of ancient

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Israel ever since creation and we can see this expressed in many places throughout the

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Old Testament. One clear example was on the occasion when the Israelites desired and demanded to have a king just like the other nations, they rejected the judges that God had raised up,

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Samuel being the last judge. And so they rejected Samuel the prophet and judge who ruled over Israel on behalf of God and so we read of God's response to Samuel when he was so distressed by what the people desired.

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We read, then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramon said to him, behold you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.

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But the thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us and Samuel prayed to the

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Lord and the Lord said to Samuel obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you for they have not rejected you and here it is but they have rejected me from being king over them.

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As the true king of Israel God would call and appoint human kings to rule on his behalf over his people.

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When David was king David ruled Israel as a man after God's own heart and what that means is that David reigned as king on behalf of Israel's true king,

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God. David's throne on earth was the earthly throne through which

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God would rule over his people from his throne in heaven and so figuratively speaking

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David was sitting on his throne at the right hand of God ruling Israel on behalf of God and that's why he was to be commended not like many of his descendants who ruled in their own name for their own purposes

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David ruled as he understood God would have him rule because he was their true king and although David was a good king he was certainly not a perfect king and those kings that came after him his descendants never rose to the quality of his reign he was the standard and later after God punished

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Israel for having broken its covenant with him God promised to restore the kingdom over which he

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God was king the kingdom of God the kingdom of heaven again and let me underscore this the physical kingdom of Israel was the manifestation of the kingdom of God during the times of the

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Old Testament or perhaps stated better physical Israel was the

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Old Testament type or shadow of the New Testament antique type or reality which is spiritual

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Israel that Jesus Christ inaugurated through his life death and resurrection and ascension to the throne of God God had promised that he would restore the kingdom of David and enthrone

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David's greater son as its king and we could cite a number of passages to substantiate this but here's a very familiar one again taken from the pen of Isaiah for unto us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty

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God everlasting father prince of peace of the increase of his government and a peace there will be no end and the throne of David over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the

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Lord of hosts will do this Isaiah 9 and so the truth we're underscoring is this and again this is not something that's that's advocated or proclaimed widely today for some reason but the truth we underscore is this the kingdom of God of the

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New Testament that God inaugurated through the ministry death resurrection and enthronement of the

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Lord Jesus is the promised kingdom of David of the Old Testament when

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Gabriel revealed to Mary that she would bear the promised child Gabriel said to her behold you'll conceive in your womb and bear a son you shall call his name

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Jesus he will be great he'll be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father

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David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end the

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Lord Jesus was the promised son of David who brought to pass all that God had promised to his people the emphasis of Jesus is teaching on the kingdom of God and that it's vitally connected with the biblical salvation underscores what we emphasized last time two weeks ago the gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of the kingdom of God to preach the gospel is to preach the good news that God has enthroned

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Jesus Christ the Son of David the Son of God to reign over the kingdom of God as Peter declared to the

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Jews gathered on the day of Pentecost therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same

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Jesus whom you crucified both Lord he's King he's

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God incarnate and Christ he's the Messiah he is the anointed King however what

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God promised and purposed to establish for his people and what the

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Jewish people had anticipated respecting that kingdom were very different from one another the

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Jewish people of New Testament days expected a restored earthly kingdom with the physical borders of the ancient kingdom of Israel in which all ethnic

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Jews would be citizens but they were mistaken for God had actually promised ancient

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Israel that he would form a kingdom that was spiritual in nature not physical and the reason for this was that their true real problem before God that brought an end to Israel's kingdom in the

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Old Testament was spiritual in nature the physical enemies of Israel their defeat of Israel their subsequent oppression all that Israel had experienced were actually

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God's just punishment upon Israel for its sins Israel had broken its covenant with God and so the promised kingdom of David would be spiritual in nature in which

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God would bring forth the remedy to their backsliding and sinful rebellion the

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Messiah would secure the forgiveness of sin of believing Jews and restore them to the promised kingdom but this kingdom would also encompass believing

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Gentiles not just a remnant of Jews all of those whom the suffering servant redeems would enjoy the spiritual and eternal blessings of God in a new covenant relationship with God in his kingdom the reigning son of David would secure the obedience of his kingdom citizens through their conversion and by imparting to his people the

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Holy Spirit who would assure them or ensure them in their faith and obedience to their King and again verses could be multiplied to substantiate this but again just to narrow it down and attempt to be concise in what we're saying the message of the gospel of our salvation involves the good news that God has inaugurated his promised kingdom in the reign of Jesus Christ and that sinners are granted entrance and citizenship in this kingdom through repentance and faith in this spiritual kingdom of God they enjoy the forgiveness of sins fellowship with the

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Lord and his people in which they live may live with joy and peace and righteousness in this age in the age to come the heart of the gospel message is this

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Jesus is Lord that is he is the once crucified but now risen and enthroned sovereign ruler over the entire world

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Christians are ones who believe this truth and live accordingly Jesus is Lord and so they live with Jesus as their king as their

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Lord and they await and anticipate the future realization of that kingdom when Christ returns in glory well because our

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Lord Jesus would establish a spiritual kingdom far different from the earthly physical kingdom the

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Jewish people anticipated Jesus was cautious how he revealed himself to them he was also careful how he instructed his disciples in the nature of the kingdom he did so primarily in two ways first and we've talked about this many times he referred to himself as the

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Son of Man nobody knew what that meant it was a title that the people did not know or comprehend had

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Jesus declared himself at once and openly as the promised Messiah the people including his own disciples would have imposed their wrong expectations upon him and his ministry even

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John the Baptist had a misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom didn't he and sent his disciples to inquire

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Jesus are you here do we look for another go back and tell John you know the blind see that you know the dead are raised and the poor had the gospel proclaimed to them yes he is the king and he is establishing the promised kingdom but it was not the kind of kingdom that the

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Jews generally were anticipating Jesus described himself as the

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Messiah by the cryptic title Son of Man so that he could over time instruct his disciples as to the true nature of his person in work and in time they came to recognize that he was the promised

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Messiah King but by then they understood the true nature of his kingdom it was spiritual not physical and then the second way that he communicated with caution the nature of the kingdom as he taught his disciples about the nature of his kingdom through the use of parables and in answer to his disciples question

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Jesus explained in detail the reason he taught in parables but before we address the use of parables we need to say a few words about the expression that Jesus used the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven it's given on to you to know and understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but not to them not all

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English translations express this phrase using the same words and I've listed some readings there from various translations others say secrets of the kingdom of heaven rather than mysteries the

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Greek word actually is tamusteria and that TA is actually a definite article before the noun and it's plural mysteries and you can hear the word the

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Greek word musteria and you can see that from the Greek language we got our

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English word mystery the Bible uses this term mystery to describe doctrinal truth that had been previously hidden from man's understanding it was there they just didn't see it mystery which

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God would then reveal to his people and the Bible records numbers of these mysteries I'm not going to repeat them all but I listed what 11 there or 12 11 there are numbers of these mysteries that God chose to reveal in the

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New Testament that were in the Old Testament people just didn't see them prophesied well by revealing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven

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Jesus was explaining to his disciples the spiritual nature of the kingdom that God intended to bring to his people in contrast to the physical kingdom which they had anticipated and so our

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Lord corrected wrong understanding that his disciples had concerning the kingdom by instructing them and them only of the true nature of the kingdom through the use of parable in this mass passage of Matthew 13

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Jesus included in the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven all seven parables and the parables of Matthew 13 include the following the parable of the sower parable of the wheat and tares parable of mustard seed 11 hidden treasure pearl of great price of the dragnet and each one of those parables has preceded the kingdom of heaven is like the kingdom of God is like and so Jesus used the expression the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to describe the characteristics of the kingdom of heaven or God through the course of this age he explained to his disciples through these seven parables that the kingdom of God is spiritual in nature that it will exist in a world in which they are both believers and unbelievers wheat and tares he taught his disciples it though the kingdom would begin quite small and insignificant kind of like leaven it would encompass the whole world which it did but Jesus also illustrated to his disciples the great value of this kingdom it's like a pearl of great price it's the most precious thing you could possibly obtain and the great privilege of being a citizen of this kingdom and yet he also through these parables gave warnings and exhortations of the costs and the difficulties to live as kingdom citizens in this fallen world the mysteries of the kingdom

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I'm amazed again at our dispensational friends who really have a view of the kingdom in the same way the

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Jews falsely had they're looking for an earthly kingdom they say a literal

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Davidic kingdom a literal throne of David in a literal city of Jerusalem in a future thousand -year golden age on earth

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Jesus told his disciples no I'm the king and this is the nature of the kingdom that God the father sent me to start and to begin and oversee and Peter declared he was raised from the dead and God has made this same

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Jesus both Lord and Christ he is the king and when you and I become

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Christians we come to understand this and we bow the heart we bow the knee and confess with our mouth

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Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the father one day all all people

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Christians and non -christians alike will bow their knee on the day of judgment and make that confession you and I as Christians do so now because we see him now in his regal authority and we've turned from sin independent self -will and we've surrendered an attempt to do the will of God as set forth through Jesus Christ well now let's consider the reason specific reason that Jesus taught the people in parables again our

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Lord told the parable of the sower publicly we read of his explanation of why he spoke in parables when he was alone with his disciples the disciples came said to him why do you speak to them in parables he answered to them to you it's been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been given our

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Lord taught the people in parables for two reasons first our Lord intended to teach his disciples the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven second the

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Lord intended to prevent all non -disciples from understanding the spiritual nature of the kingdom so let's consider our

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Lord's words regarding this second reason he taught in parables verse 11 reads he answered to you it's been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been given and so he purposed to teach the truth of his kingdom to his disciples but he determined not to teach non -disciples respecting the kingdom to them it has not been given and so here we see the understanding that understanding spiritual truth is really the direct result of the sovereign will of God isn't it

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I'm going to reveal it to you I'm not going to reveal it to them God is sovereign in that because of sin no one would be able to understand spiritual truth or to have his life transformed

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God must take the initiative to reveal himself to the people he chooses and only they are going to come to the truth but with respect to stubborn hard -hearted

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Christ rejecters God has purposed to keep them in ignorance regarding the way to recovery from their terrible damn condition to them it has not been given

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God withholding the hearing and understanding of his word is a sign of his displeasure and judgment consider what

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God said he would do to Israel on that day declares the Lord God I will make the sun go down at noon darken the earth in broad daylight

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I'll turn your feasts into mourning all your songs into lamentation I'll bring sackcloth on every waist baldness on every head

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I will make it like the morning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day and here it is behold the days are coming now this was in ancient

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Israel declares the Lord God when I will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of God they shall wander from sea to sea from north to east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the

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Lord but they shall not find it let's acknowledge the greatest of blessings is to hear and understand the

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Word of God the greatest curse is to hear the

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Word of God and not understand it if you have a measure of understanding of God's Word so that it has shaped your thinking and it directs your life you are most blessed person to you it's been given to know.

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Consider what Paul wrote to the Corinthians as it's written what no eye has seen nor ear heard nor the heart of men imagine what

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God has prepared for those who love Him. He's not talking about heaven nobody knows what heaven's like he's talking about salvation no one has never entered into their mind they've never seen it never heard it and never even imagine what true salvation is all about but these things

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God has revealed to us by His Spirit for the Spirit searches everything even the depths of God for who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in Him you can tell when a person's angry because you're a person you know what anger is but you don't know what

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God's like because you're not God Holy Spirit is so he knows and so he can tell you and reveal it to you is what

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Paul is arguing. So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the

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Spirit of God now we've received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God for what purpose that we might understand the things freely given us by God and we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the

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Spirit interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual but the natural person this is the person without the

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Spirit of God working in them this is the natural person born into this fallen world the natural person does not accept the things of the

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Spirit of God oh he or she can understand them intellectually but doesn't accept them it's true certainly nothing to live according to their folly to him you and I stood forth and declared what we really believe and think as Christians they would regard us as not only stupid but terribly in error and arrogant their folly to him and he is not able to understand them an unconverted person cannot understand the things of God why because they they're spiritually discerned and they don't have the

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Spirit of God but the spiritual person this is a Christian who has the

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Holy Spirit judges all things see he has the capability given to him or to her but is himself to be judged by no one for who has understood the mind of the

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Lord so as to instruct him no one but we have the mind of Christ is what Paul declared and so God has to reveal spiritual truth to us about the kingdom the mysteries of the kingdom so that we truly comprehend them and embrace them or otherwise it won't happen now let's return to Matthew 13 12 and 13 in which we read what our

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Lord then told his disciples about God's resolve to reveal spiritual truth as disciples but to keep all others in ignorance for to the one who has more will be given he will have an abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away this is why

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I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see hearing they do not hear nor do they understand and so God is either blessing you with further acquisition of knowledge of his word and truth or he's hardening you by his word which will end in your certain destruction damnation biblical truth is the means that God uses both to bless but also to damn people the same word saves condemns depending on the work of the

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Holy Spirit either giving understanding or ensuring indifference or ignorance our

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Lord then said that his intention not to reveal truth to those who are not his disciples was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and so here's

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Matthew 13 14 and 15 and I trust it'll sound familiar to you because this is the

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Old Testament passage we read earlier Isaiah 6 Jesus said indeed in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says you will indeed hear but never understand and you will indeed see but never perceive for this people's heart has grown dull and with their ears they can hardly hear and their eyes they've closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them

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God had intended to harden the hearts of many in Israel so that they would not respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ the

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Lord said that the Word of God recorded in Isaiah 6 verses 9 and 10 was being fulfilled by him and this passage at Matthew quotes is of the initial call of Isaiah to his prophetic office which we read

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Isaiah 6 Isaiah spoke I heard the voice of the

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Lord saying whom shall I send who will go for us this is God speaking and then Isaiah said here am

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I send me and then verse 9 God said go and tell this people what was

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Isaiah to tell what was his preaching ministry like keep on hearing but don't understand keep on seeing but do not perceive make the heart of this people dull their ears heavy shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes hear with their ears understand with their heart and return and be healed

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Isaiah respond how long do you want me to keep up this preaching ministry Lord he answered until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant the houses are without a man the land is utterly desolate the

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Lord has removed men far away that's Babylonian captivity and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land but yet a tenth a remnant will be in it and will return and be for consuming as a terebinth tree or as an oak whose stump remains when it's cut down so the holy seed shall be its stump and so Isaiah chapter 6 opened with Isaiah being transported into heaven the very presence of the

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Holy God and Isaiah is immediately struck with an awareness of his terrible sinfulness woe is me

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I'm undone my lips are unclean and so the first thing God does is cleanses of him cleanse them of his sin and then

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God spoke asking for a volunteer to go speak his word to the people of Israel and Isaiah responded with courage and boldness and from Isaiah's example we may know that a personal sense of forgiveness of sin cleansing from sin will produce courage and boldness and a desire to advocate the will of God on the other hand a sense of guilt due to one sin will close one's mouth that all the world might become guilty so that every mouth may be stopped

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God then gave Isaiah his commission and instruction with respect to the message he was to proclaim and God refers now in Isaiah 6 as his people as this people no longer my people this people language no longer in a covenant relationship this people puts distance between God and Judah and then the message is set forth it's a message of judgment upon the nation keep on hearing but don't understand keep on saying but do not perceive so here's the substance in the tenor of the message which

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Isaiah was to bear to the people the time that God had given his people to repent had expired for this generation of Isaiah's day the time of salvation was no longer

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God would harden this people leading to their just condemnation and destruction the fact is

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God can make blind I see deaf ears hear he can also render seeing eyes blind and hearing ears deaf to his message so that they continue in their self -destructive ways

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God in his judicial dealings with sinful unrepentant people withholds his mercy and grace and renders insensitivity and ignorance of the way of peace and it's this passage that Jesus declared was being fulfilled in his ministry just as it was being fulfilled in Isaiah's day he quoted

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Isaiah as a prophecy of those Jews who rejected his teaching during his earthly ministry Isaiah foretold their obstinacy and the judgment of God upon them their refusal to hear the

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Lord Jesus was itself the judgment of God upon them and the result of God's judicial action in this case was insensitivity ignorance and indifference which will continue until the time of judgment and thus their spiritual hearing seeing and understanding was to be removed the

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Lord Jesus is controlling history today do not look out at this unbelieving world and somehow think the church has failed or the gospel has failed

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Jesus is exercising his righteous judgment and we're not just trying to see souls saved we're also bearing witness to the for the prosecution aren't we people here in America they have such freedom and opportunity to hear the

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Word of God it's aired on the radio wave television daily everybody's got a

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Bible in their house and when they ignore it dismiss it discredit it they confirm themselves in judgment and God will see to it that they stay in judgment but thankfully he's purposed to save some of those hardened sinners too

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I was one and this way he shows forth his glory doesn't he

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I'm gonna take the Apostle Paul who was threatening and killing Christians and I'm gonna make him my spokesman and that's what he's done for you and me hasn't he taken us out of this fallen world revealed to us things that we would have never known had no desire for and brought us to himself it's a glorious thing and so the evidence of God's judgment upon a people is their lack of concern and their lack of understanding of God and his ways and an inability to be aroused or instructed in the things of God and so for healing to take place there must be repentance from sin but for repentance to take place there must be an understanding of one's condition and there must be present the concern and desire to change conviction of sin and so if one does not respond to the prompting of God and the day of his gracious dealings he ceases his gracious workings and renders those whom he is judging incapable and unwilling to turn thereby sealing their doom when his day of judgment arrives and God deals with people in this manner today as well in spite of the repeated promptings of the

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Holy Spirit a professing Christian may harden his heart to the things of God to the need of turning from sin

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God does not always strive with this person that one can grieve the spirit to such a degree that none of the graces which the

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Spirit bestows can any longer be experienced those being peace faith love joy and assurance and hope this is not to say that a true

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Christian can lose their salvation that's not possible but there are I fear many who presumptuously think they are favored by God just like these

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Jews listening to Jesus on the shores of Galilee who are actually lying under the guilt of wrath of God for their sin but they were clueless and I fear there are multitudes in churches that have the same spirit of indifference and ignorance and error regarding the substance and the heart of the gospel of the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ we should always be aware that the preaching of the

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Word of God may produce this kind of effect in our hearers a hardening which results in death

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I could relate some stories to you messages I get from the radio it's incredible from professing

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Christians by the way you Pharisee you self -righteous hypocrite you legalist

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I mean I get it all believe me but I love it's a wonderful thing when

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I hear you know I hear a phone call or a card you know I can't find a sound good church in my area but I'm so dependent upon the radio thank you so much for your church sending out the radio broadcast you know up in Maine and places in New Hampshire it's a desert out there in many places it's a sad thing but God deals with this man in this manner with people today we should always be aware the preaching the

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Word of God may result in this kind of reaction the truthfulness of a matter or the proof of God working in and through a message or messenger is not easily determined oftentimes the preacher is blamed for not being clear or understandable and indeed he might be at fault but the one hearing the word is also responsible and maybe even more so remember hearing years ago decades ago some old lady being asked why do you go to that church you don't get much out of it he says well

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I'm kind of like a hen scratching in the farm you know on the on the ground outside the hen house once in a while I come across a seed and you know it is difficult for people but the

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Lord has his people and the Lord has his word being proclaimed and sometimes you have to search for it there are some who because of their neglect indifference and refusal to respond have rendered themselves incapable of understanding the simplest of spiritual truths and they could care less that is a sign of the wrath of God Isaiah's thoughts of this kind of ministry were distressing understandably he volunteered to bear

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God's message but the message wasn't a pleasant one he nor his message would be received and so we ask in verse 11 how long oh

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Lord until the cities are waste without inhabitant houses without people land in a desolate place

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Isaiah was to preach or bear witness until there was no one remaining to hear until the time when the land would be desolate vacated due to the destruction of the land deportation of the populace but thankfully in contrast to the reprobate whom

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God determined to condemn for their sins God had good designs on those who were to be the recipients of his salvation the

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Lord said to his disciples in Matthew 13 but blessed are your eyes for they see your ears for they hear for truly

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I say to you many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see did not see it here what you hear and did not hear it the fact is there are many godly prophets and righteous men of the

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Old Testament who desire to see and experience what you and I enjoy through Jesus Christ right now and if you desire to know the true

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God and his word that he's given and you delight your understanding and you're attempting by the grace of God to live accordingly you are the most blessed of all people in this world

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God loves you and he has shown that not only in giving his son but revealing his son to you as the only way of salvation

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Jesus is Lord and he saves all those who come humbly to him in faith acknowledging that and bowing their hearts to him may the

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Lord help us to do so always let's pray thank you our father for your word thank you our

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God for the clear teaching we have of our Lord Jesus and help us our

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God take these matters to heart we lament our God that the gospel does not seem to bear a great deal of fruit in these days but we thank you our

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God that it's bearing some and that we do see people come to true sound life and faith in Jesus Christ may you continue to do a work of grace bring revival to us our

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God and fill your houses Lord everywhere that's attempting to preach Christ in truth from the

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Word of God bless us revive our churches expand your kingdom our God and help us also to be faithful to our generation to declare them

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Lord the wrath of God that's coming indeed is upon them unless they turn and believe on Jesus whom you have appointed both